Gathering Assorted Items of Baseball History and Trivia

Here are some pictures from the San Francisco Chronicle depicting the crowning moments of the Oakland A’s dynasty of the early ’70s. First 1972:

Then 1973-before this clincher, Reggie said: “I had a pretty good day yesterday with two doubles and a single, and I’m going to do it again today.”:

And finally 1974:

The “Dodgers Goof” line refers to Bill Buckner singling to centerfielder Bill North to lead off the eighth inning of the final game of the ’74 Series. The Dodgers were down, 3-2. When Bill North missed the ball, Buckner hit second and headed for third base. But Reggie Jackson came over, got the ball, and threw in to cutoff man Dick Green, who relayed to Sal Bando, whose hard tag nailed Buckner at third.

The Chronicle’s Bob Stevens: “Buckner, who had been bugged unmercifully by the Frisbee and beer-can throwing fans in the left field bleachers, dug in for second base when North let the ball go by him, then dug in for third base as the knowledgeable crowd gasped with disbelief. The adventurous, strategy-defying Buckner was on his way to a paragraph in the same history book that features the names of Fred Merkle, Mickey Owen and Lou Brock, the man who refused to slide at the plate and cost the St. Louis Cardinals the World Series against Detroit. . . . There were no outs, he [Buckner] represented the potential tying run and the heavy artillery of the Dodgers’ batting order was waiting in the line to drive him home.”

I saw everything in front of me. If you’re baseball-wise, you see the whole thing developing. As I went for the ball, I saw Buckner going into second. I knew instinctively what he was thinking. He was human and he was thinking third. I was saying to myself, “Where you going, man? Hey, man, don’t run on me. Don’t disregard me. Respect me. At least hesitate. Break stride. Wave at me. Holler, ‘Hey, Jack.’ Something. Anything. Let me know you know I’m there. Don’t pass go. Don’t collect no money.”

I can throw hard and accurate. But I never even thought of throwing to third. I made the fundamental play I was supposed to make, and it worked. I never even took a look for Greenie before I threw. I threw where he was supposed to be and he was there. I know he didn’t look for Bando. He threw where third was and Sal was there.

Bob Stevens had a way with words: “The adventurous, strategy-defying Buckner…” I love that line!
And Reggie’s recollections are revealing. He just threw to where he knew Dick Green would be, who, in turn threw to where he knew Bando would be. Great fundamental baseball. That’s the bottom-line of their success, I think.
Great stuff,
Bill

I was at the last three games what was scary was Joe Ferguson and Jimmy whyn 2 times they missed home runs by a few feet the whole series would have changed on that not only throwing outrunners but beating a throw himselfbeating a troll home himself which was classic